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SRC: BOGIE JUST KEEPS ON WINNING

Posted: March 29, 2011 3:47 PM

David Bogie was again in dominant form on Saturday's Brick & Steel Border
Counties Rally to take his first win on the event, and his third major
victory of the season.

The reigning Scottish champion was quickest through all four
Wauchope/Kielder forest stages in his Mitsubishi Evo 9 to finish with a
total time of 43 minutes 33 seconds, thirty-four seconds ahead of Mike
Faulkner in an Evo 6. Euan Thorburn was third, a further 34 seconds
adrift, in his Evo 9.

It completed a "hat-trick" for Bogie and Hawick co-driver Kevin Rae
following victories on the opening rounds of both the MSA Scottish and
British championships.

The result also means that Bogie has now won each of the eight events
which make up the Scottish series.

In perfect weather conditions, the defending double champions set the pace
from the start on the Jedburgh-based event, which this year celebrated 10
years of support from Brick & Steel.

They were 5 seconds up on Faulkner and Peter Foy at the end of the first
7-mile Wauchope stage, with Thorburn and navigator Paul Beaton a further
one second behind.

Jock Armstrong and Kirsty Riddick were fourth quickest in their Subaru
Impreza, ahead of David Wilson and Dave Robson in a Mitsubishi Evo 9.

The defending champions again set the benchmark on the daunting 17-mile
Broomylinn test: eleven seconds quicker than Faulkner and Foy, with
Armstrong and Riddick third fastest before a broken gearstick forced them
to call it a day. It was their second successive retirement on the event,
following gearbox failure on the first stage last year.

Faulkner tried to keep Bogie in his sights through the third Redesdale
stage, finishing the 13-miler fifteen seconds adrift, with Cumbrians Paul
Benn and Richard Cooke a further seven seconds behind in their Ford
Focus.

The final 6-mile Hyndlee test proved to be the tightest of the day with
Bogie pipping Andy Horne and Jim Howie in their DAM 4100GTi by a single
second. Faulkner/Foy were two seconds behind, while Benn/Cooke and Robbie
Head/Claire Mole in an Evo 9 tied for fourth fastest time, another two
seconds back.

Bogie was delighted with his second successive SRC win, which puts him
five points ahead of Thorburn in the overall Scottish championship
drivers' standings, with Faulkner a further point behind in third.

"It's nice to finally tick the box of a rally I've never won before", said
the Dumfries ace: "We had a small overshoot on stage two, but other than
that it's been a perfect day. It's a very difficult rally, with the gravel
at the side of the stages punishing the smallest mistake, so we made sure
we kept it clean. The new suspension on the car performed really well,
and it sets us up nicely for the next round of the British championship
(the Bulldog International) in two weeks time".

As the champagne was sprayed at the finish in the shadow of Jedburgh
Abbey, Faulkner explained how he and co-driver Foy were lucky to be on the
podium.

"We were pushing hard and had a really big moment on the final stage which
could have ended our challenge, but thankfully we recovered and made it
through", said the Kirtlebridge-based driver: "We just couldn't match
David's pace today, but we're still on track, and will give it our all on
the Granite City rally next month".

Thorburn was also satisfied with his Border Counties outing ("it's not
been a bad day for us at all, but there was no catching David"), and, like
Bogie, the Duns-based driver will now prepare for the BRC second round.

Fourth placed Andy Horne reckoned the dry weather suited his DAM 4100GTi.
"It's been a very good day for us. The first stage was very slippery for
us and we tweaked a few things on the car, but after that we just stayed
consistent and it paid off".

Robbie Head marked his second SRC outing since returning to competition
with a fifth-place finish - two places up on his Snowman result.

"We probably didn't have the best tyre choice on stage one, and then we
had a bit of a tracking problem on the second stage, which made the car
feel strange so I probably wasn't commiting as much as I could", said the
Lanark-based Head: "However, after some adjustments, stages three and four
went well, so it certainly shows an improvement".

For Paul Benn and Richard Cooke - who finished sixth - the Border Counties
was their first SRC outing of the year, as it was for Evo 9 pilot Barry
Groundwater ("it's been a good day - not bad after a long winter lay-off")
who was co-driven on the day by Neil Shanks.

Donnie Macdonald from Inverness was another driver who survived a major
scare before bringing his Evo 9 home in eighth overall - to add to his
sixth on the Snowman. While negotiating a corner on the final stage, the
car climbed a banking before coming back down and righting itself.
However, the incident knocked the wind out of co-driver Keir Beaton and he
was briefly unable to call the notes.

The Oban duo of Stephen and Kevin Lockhart - seeded 36th in their
Mitsubishi Evo 7 - turned in an impressive performance to finish ninth
overall on their first competitive outing in six months.

The top ten was rounded off by Stephen Petch and John Richardson in an Evo
9. Although not eligible for SRC points, the result made up for a
non-finish on the event in 2010.

In the 2-wheel drive category, Kielder specialist Steve Bannister was
first on the road in his Mk2 Escort, and by the end of SS3 was well on the
way to comfortable 2WD victory. However, the Yorkshireman made a rare
error while negotiating a corner on the final stage. The Escort flipped
onto its roof, before spectators managed to right the battered car and
send it on its way - minus the windscreen - to complete the course.

"We both knew it was a bad corner - we'd spoken about it before we went in
- but we were just carrying too much speed. I think my side took the worst
of it, but we're both OK, that's the main thing", said Sutherland.

It meant the pair had to settle for second in the "historic" class behind
the Mk1 of Peter Smith and Russ Langthorne.

After a long-lay off, top Northern Ireland competitor Phillip Morrow from
Lisburn had to make a last minute switch from a more familiar Evo to a
hired Escort, and was rewarded with a Class 8 win alongside brother Simon.

One notable retirement in that class was Michael Buchanan, who had been
second only to Bannister in the 2WD's for the first three stages in his
Mk2, but crashed out spectacularly on the final test.

One of the most impressive results of the day was a Class 2 win for
17-year-old Greg McKnight from Dumfries, who was competing on only his
second rally at the wheel of his Vauxhall Nova. With dad Chris on the
notes, the youngster finished 35th overall.

There were 66 finishers, from a start list of 107 crews.

The third round of the SRC is the CARS Recovery Granite City Rally in
Aberdeen on the 16th of April.